Vietnam emerges as big RoK export market

The business session between Vietnamese and RoK enterprises held in Seoul on September 14.(Photo: VNA)

Exports from the Republic of Korea (RoK) to Vietnam have rocketed this year, despite declines in other major export markets like China and Japan, prompting local firms to seek business partners in the Southeast Asian country.

According to statistics announced by the RoK government on September 15, exports to Vietnam increased by 29.9 percent in the first seven months of this year compared to the same period last year.

Vietnam leapt two steps to rank as the RoK’s fourth largest export market, accounting for 5.2 percent of its outgoing shipments.

On September 14, the Korea Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) invited 17 major state-owned and private businesses to business sessions in Seoul, during which cooperation projects worth more than 1 billion USD are expected to be promoted.

The two countries also signed a free trade agreement in May, under which Vietnam will remove its import duties on 89.9 percent of all products from the RoK over a 15-year period following its implementation.

The RoK will do the same on 95.4 percent, or 11,668 out of the total 12,232 products, imported from Vietnam.

Trade between the two countries exceeded 26 billion USD last year, the highest value since the two established diplomatic ties in 1992.-VNA